Presbyterian Mission Agency

A letter from Sarah Henken serving as Regional Liaison for the Andean Region, based in Colombia

March 2016 - Dwelling Together in the Household of God

¡Mirad cuán bueno y cuán delicioso es
          que habiten los hermanos juntos en armonía! —Salmo 133:1

Look at how good and pleasing it is
           when families live together as one!  —Psalm 133:1

Uno, dos, tres ... cuarenta y cuatro ... sesenta y cinco ... ochenta y nueve.

Eighty-nine was the magic number, the total number of voting delegates sent by the synods from all over Peru. Eighty-nine votes should be cast per round, on paper ballots collected by ushers, counted out publicly to be sure the correct number were collected before tallying how many votes were cast for each candidate for the presidency of the Iglesia Evangélica Peruana (IEP). The painstaking process was carried out with great care and attention to detail—decently and in order.

The IEP is our newest ecumenical partner in the Andean region, but it is a historic denomination in Peru, the fruit of mission evangelists from Europe who came to Peru in the late 19th century. Since 2011 the IEP and the PC(USA) have chosen to connect in covenant partnership. We have invited representatives to each other’s General Assemblies. Youth from both churches have met for fellowship, prayer, and bunk-bed-building. Adults have connected to share resources and approaches for Christian education. Water purification systems have been installed.  PC(USA) mission co-workers Sara Armstrong and Rusty Edmondson are invested in the delicate, challenging, rewarding task of facilitating partnership between our churches. They organize, coordinate and translate for visiting delegations from the PC(USA), helping to ensure that these visits reflect the mutual mission priorities of the two denominations.

Transitions Toward Justice in Bolivia

By Chenoa Stock, Mission Co-worker, UMAVIDA, Joining Hands Bolivia

March 7, 2016

Bolivians passing time in the Plaza Murillo in La Paz. Photo Credit: Chenoa Stock.

 

As Lent comes to an end, we recognize Jesus’ decision to withdraw into the desert for 40 days and nights to discern and prepare for his forthcoming ministry. Though longer than 40 days, we of UMAVIDA (Uniendo Manos por la Vida – Joining Hands for Life) have also been wandering in a desert -- sometimes in the darkness, sometimes tempted to give up and walk away -- reflecting …

A letter from Chenoa Stock serving in Bolivia

Lent 2016 - Celebrate in Sharing

I am thrilled to be writing to you all after the recent press release that highlights the Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) World Mission exceeding its 2015 fund-raising goals. Hallelujah! I want to personally thank all of you who were a part of that giving process to support PC(USA) World Mission, and a special thanks to those who contributed to my specific mission service in Bolivia. You all have been a part of this journey and I of course could not be here, nor continue here, without your prayers, encouragement and financial gifts. So I begin by sharing my deepest gratitude with each of you.

In the press release Tamron Keith, World Mission associate director for administration, emphasizes that “The true impact of this blessing will not be known until the April 2016 Presbyterian Mission Agency Board meeting, when the Presbyterian Mission Agency’s 2017-18 budget will be deliberated and approved. At that point we will know how many mission co-workers our budget can support.” 

So though we celebrate and recognize the victory in this moment, the reflection on the future of the Presbyterian Church and its mission continues. Perhaps this is timely as we begin the Lenten season—a time of deep reflection to draw ourselves closer to God.

A letter from Chenoa Stock serving in Bolivia

Advent 2015 - One Body in Christ

“We are many parts, we are all one body, and the gifts we have we are given to share. May the spirit of love make us one in deed. One, the love that we share; one, our hope in despair; one, the cross that we bear.”

I have not been able to get this song from my childhood summer weeks at Camp Crestfield out of my head since we held our UMAVIDA General Assembly this past Friday. As our nine partner organizations gathered together to reflect and analyze the current situation of UMAVIDA (Uniendo Manos por La Vida—Joining Hands for Life), we began with a devotional from Pastor Emilio Aslla, president of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in Bolivia. We listened to the words of Romans 12:4-5: For as in one body we have many members, and not all the members have the same function, so we, who are many, are one body in Christ, and individually we are members one of another. With this passage Pastor Emilio reminded us that, as partner organizations of the UMAVIDA network, each of us holds different responsibilities and gifts, but we are all essential as we carry out our work for God’s Kingdom together. Though we are many, which at times can make it more difficult to plan and coordinate our shared mission, our active participation is critical in order to move toward our vision of transformation for Bolivia and the world. Pastor Emilio helped us to see that just as the body of Christ brings us a renewed way of living, this is our time to be renewed as a network and to recommit ourselves to our mission.

A letter from Chenoa Stock serving in Bolivia

October 2015 - Covenants of Love and Renewal

I was filled with the Holy Spirit, and I hadn’t even walked down the aisle. The days leading up to this special moment of becoming a “Señora” and committing to live my life in covenant with my now-husband, José Luis Claure, were days of last-minute errands, of catching up with close friends from all over the world, some not seen for years, of visits and city wanders around Pittsburgh, Pa., with present and future family members, of eating delicious food, and of embracing the peace within the joyful chaos. Before walking down the aisle my bridesmaids and I shared a moment of prayer and then, there I was, my arm around my father’s, awaiting my brother’s trumpet processional call, filled and ready to enter into covenant.

During our service we not only emphasized our marriage covenant of abiding love, symbolized by a ring, but we also invited our guests to recognize their covenant of baptism, the gift of life and renewal through water and God’s unconditional love. This was symbolized by a scallop shell (Christian symbol of baptism) that each one took with them as they exited the church’s outdoor courtyard, where we were married.

A letter from Sarah Henken serving as Regional Liaison for the Andean Region, based in Colombia

july 2015 - the cost of discipleship

The cold knot of dread in the pit of my stomach grew heavier as I read through the letter. For the first time in nine years supporting the struggle for peace with justice alongside the Presbyterian Church of Colombia, I was frightened.

In many ways the letter was nothing new; the panfleto is a despicable and all too common form of public intimidation employed by Colombia’s neo-paramilitary organizations. This one used hateful, violent language to declare all members of human rights organizations, unions, and progressive political parties to be military targets, who should “begin to leave the country or hide like rats” because the self-proclaimed enforcers of a strict public order were going to pick them off one by one. Of the 30-some individuals named, I know about a dozen personally, including several friends and colleagues who have been threatened before, and one who is new to this dubious recognition.

A letter from Chenoa Stock serving in Bolivia

june 2015 - faith through the storm

He woke up and rebuked the wind, and said to the sea, “Peace! Be still!” Then the wind ceased, and there was a dead calm. He said to them, “Why are you afraid? Have you still no faith?” And they were filled with great awe and said to one another, “Who then is this, that even the wind and the sea obey him?” (Mark 4:39-41)

Though we here in Bolivia have now entered the season of the chill of winter mornings and evenings, with its strong rays of sun throughout the day, and have passed our rainy season, no longer having to worry about facing the rains and storms, this Bible passage sits on my heart.

A letter from Chenoa Stock serving in Bolivia

march 2015 - Annual ministry report, 2014: Faces of the year

“…Jesus set his face toward Jerusalem” Luke 9:51b.

As I write this we are just entering into Holy Week. We are walking the final path of Lent—a path of reflection and meditation that, through its darkness and discoveries, leads us toward an Easter of transformation and renewal.

A letter from Sarah Henken serving as Regional Liaison for the Andean Region, based in Colombia

March 2015 - Climate Justice

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against things like this  (Galatians 5:22-23).

Mission co-worker Jed Koball (second from right) leads a song during morning devotions

 

The sun was bright and spirits were high as we took our place in line. Standing on tiptoe, I couldn’t see the start of the crowd gathered in the street. Later I would learn that there were about 20,000 of us participating in the people’s march for climate justice.  We were a motley crew: young and old, drummers and dancers, of different political and spiritual stripes, from many countries and nations around the world, including our group of almost 60, U.S. Presbyterians and partners from Bolivia and Peru. The atmosphere was more like a parade than a protest as we moved through the streets of Lima, sharing our hope for change with the people who stood on the sidelines to gawk or to encourage us. Our message to the world’s lawmakers was simple: let’s change the system, not the climate.

A letter from Sarah Henken serving as Regional Liaison for the Andean Region, based in Bolivia

november 2014 - seeing anew

When I first heard of the Pan-American Highway, I imagined something like the broad, smooth freeways we have at home in California. Now that I’ve seen certain South American sections of the Highway, I know that this is true at points, but there are also much humbler stretches, and one place where it is a gravel road that simply dead-ends in the swampland of the Darien Gap, just south of the Panama-Colombia border. I was there in September with a group of eager, committed, gifted 20-somethings who had just arrived to begin their year of service as Young Adult Volunteers (or YAVs) in the program’s brand-new Colombia site—which I am now coordinating in addition to my ongoing role as regional liaison.